A jurisdictional transfer occurs when the state or a local agency requests that a roadway or portion thereof ceases to provide the function that it was intended for and be transferred to another agency for ownership.  

For example, a city may build a roadway and over time the facility may grow to provide regional connection and significance to other state highways. The locals–along with support from UDOT–request that the roadway be transferred to UDOT for future ownership. The opposite may also happen: a portion of the state’s highway no longer fills a statewide need and instead supports local access to jobs, shopping, and housing. 

Jurisdictional Transfer agreements will be entered into based on recommendations by the UDOT Commission, and they will be approved by the Utah State Legislature as it provides an overall benefit to the traveling public, the local entity, and UDOT. It is the responsibility of the legislature to add or delete sections of highway from the state highway system. The process for requesting a Jurisdictional Transfer is outlined in Utah State Code 72-4-102. 

It is important for maintenance forces to understand how the change of jurisdictional transfers impact operations and what challenges the new route poses. It’s good practice to meet with the local entity and gather details on the route which the state will be acquiring, such as the age and history of maintenance treatments performed on the route, whether there is a regular maintenance schedule that has been followed for assets along the route, whether there are areas that have needed special maintenance attention i.e. storm drains, pavement deficiencies, retention/detention ponds, signs, safety features etc., and how winter operations have been carried out. This information will provide maintenance with the background and history to develop a budget to plan and schedule the needed maintenance activities necessary in order to maintain the new route in a state of good repair.

An example of a Jurisdictional Transfer agreement and the supporting documentation is provided here: West Jordan Road Transfer Evaluation.

Corridor Agreements are entered into for many reasons.  These types of agreements help to establish an understanding between the department and a local agency of when specified features may be installed on a state highway and whose responsibility it will be to own and maintain these features, and for what period of time.   

Examples of Corridor Agreements 

Maintenance agreements are created when the state or local agency have agreed to maintain assets or features in a different manner than what is described in the Administrative Rule R918-6: Maintenance Responsibility at Intersections, Overcrossings, and Interchanges between Class A Roads and Class B or Class C Roads.  This helps to establish the limits of responsibilities and what assets will be maintained and by whom. The maintenance agreements also include detailed descriptions of the exceptions of how those assets will be maintained such as, frequency, acceptable repair or replacement measures, specifications for materials and installation, and acceptable costs for reimbursement.

MOU’s are also referred to as Cooperative Agreements. UDOT enters into agreements with local agencies and entities for the use of property, materials, or activities to be performed by locals for the Department. In some cases UDOT, with approval from senior leadership, may assist local agencies and entities with activities (snow removal, maintenance of particular roadway sections, and/or various financial or resource hardships). As discussed above, there must be a mutual benefit for both parties to enter into an agreement. 

Interlocal agreements are typically agreements that involve more than two parties. There are opportunities to enter into such agreements in sharing responsibilities for maintenance activities across state routes or the sharing of materials between multiple entities. When entering into such agreements, it is important that the responsibilities of each entity are very clearly identified (the use of exhibits and or drawings are helpful to provide additional details). A further explanation is provided within the Utah State Code “Interlocal Cooperation Act”.

As is the case with all agreements the terms and conditions must be clearly spelled out; opportunities must be available for each party to negotiate based on factors such as increased operational, labor, material costs that have increased beyond the estimated amounts, or a change in circumstances that are beyond their control (change of leadership that wishes to go a different direction). Each party should have an opportunity to open negotiations with the others when they are experiencing costs or issues beyond their control. It is imperative that the UDOT legal team review and approve of all agreements before gathering any signatures for the execution of the agreement.

Park-and-Ride Maintenance: This example includes the parties of UDOT, UTA, City of Cottonwood Heights, and Salt lake County Public Works.

Betterment agreements are when a local government agency requests that additional work be added to a construction project that is outside the scope of the intended project.  

An example of a betterment agreement happens frequently in the case of upgrading utilities; such as a Local Agency may be requesting that a utility be upgraded on a state route that is within their city as part of a UDOT project. It is more cost effective and less impactful to have UDOT's contractor perform the work.  In this case the city would approach UDOT to have this additional work be added to the contract.  An agreement would be signed between the City and UDOT stating that the City would pay all costs for the installation of the water line and the project would proceed

Betterment discussions typically take place during the design and pre-construction phase of the project, but betterments do often occur when a project has already been advertised and active construction is taking place.  In this case a change order would be created and the city would reimburse UDOT for the additional work.

UDOT and local agencies will routinely enter agreements that deal with the leasing of real property.  When UDOT determines the need to enter into a lease agreement the Right of Way Division will be involved and handle the transaction.  UDOT ROW acts as the department's property manager when dealing with the leasing, selling, or the trading of properties. 

Much like Lease agreements, Easement agreements deal with the use of real property and define allowances for use either by the local or by UDOT for entry onto property that the other party does not own. Reimbursement for the use of the property may come in forms of outright payments, trading the use of a parcel/easement for another, or other terms that are negotiated between the parties.